A Peek into their Lives After the Cluehunt
by sathena3
Summary: Natalie is doing Dan's makeup. (Wait what) Ian calls Amy for help. (Excuse me?) Alistair is on Easter Island with the Holt twins. (Huh?) Jonah is acting in Shakespeare. (Finally!) Hamilton and his dad are climbing Half-Dome -the flat side. (Typical) And Sinead got a hold of the serum to heal her brothers. (WHAT?) JK! Or maybe not... read on to find out! Amian/Natan/ Hamead.
1. Lucians I

Disclaimer: I do not own the 39 Clues Series. Rick Riordan does, and a bunch of other authors, and they are awesome.

Written by: sathena3 and Stormy-Starre

**CHAPTER ONE**  
**Lucian**  
**Isabel**

"I need to go back home and take care of my kids, Natalie and Ian. They aren't capable of taking care of themselves without their mother," Isabel begged the jail guard.

"No," the guard answered with slight hesitation.

_Well, I think I might be able to take advantage of his greed for money because I saw him sneaking some money from another guard yesterday, _Isabel thought. "I can give you money," she hissed through the cell's iron bars. The guard paused. Seeing this, Isabel pushed her advantage. "Hmm...let's see. I have over 5 billion dollars," she hinted. "For releasing me and saying that I am a changed woman, you will get 20 million dollars. How does that sound?" she sweetly asked the guard.

"Fine. I'll take the deal. You'll be out in 2 months," the guard snapped. Two months later , Isabel was released and the guard had his money. Another month later, the guard was found dead. His body was discovered in his closet, without a mark. There were no clues, much less fingerprints, found around the scene of crime, no spatters of blood or poison, and his breath even smelled like mint. The 20 million dollars had disappeared without a trace.

**Natalie**

Natalie grimaced as her limo screeched to a sharp halt in front of the stairs to the chic french boutique. _Don't grimace, _she thought._It causes wrinkles. _She could not seem to get Mum out of her mind. After those Cahill orphans, Amy and Dan, won the clue hunt 2 years ago, Isabel was behind bars permanently, and Vikram was most likely somewhere in the world under a different identity. Suddenly, her brother and her had no guardians, and **only** 4 million dollars, which had been received in the Black Gauntlet.

They had had to sell most of their luscious property, and her brother, Ian, was just 17. Her brother had taken over the abandoned family business of selling paintings, and was always stressed out. At the moment, he was having an unfriendly exchange with the driver. Probably something about how he was paying too much for the ride with no heated seats. Natalie delicately lifted her Prada purse onto her lap, careful not to do damage to any of her perfectly manicured fingers, then waited for the driver, Charlie, or Charles, or whatever his name was, to open the door for her. She flicked a speck of lint off of her diamond studded, designer Gucci jeans. Impatient, she kicked the limo door aside for herself. Her strides were long, as the 13 year old millionaire headed up the charming boutique's entrance.

**Ian**

Natalie had been so excited for the shopping spree, she had forgotten to bring her cell phone along into the shop with her. Ian had the choice to stay in the limo and bury himself into his sister's cell phone, or tag along with his younger sister in a pink and flower decked shop. He chose to stay in the limo. He shrugged off his wandering thoughts, and reached out to grab Natalie's iPhone. The case was covered in only the best diamonds, and some were different colors to make the Lucian Crest. He dove straight to her e-mail. He had memorized her password, from the many times when she would pause every few letters to inspect her nails or yell at a servant to get something. The first thing that popped up was… an e-mail from that repulsive orphan, Daniel Cahill. He tapped on the screen and read the email quickly.

Dear Natalie,  
Read this story! I love it so very much! And can you come over to my place on Friday, because I have cast members of the school play coming over, and the make-up artist got sick. I thought that you can come and do something to their faces. Please come!  
-Ninja Master Dan

Attached was a link to a story on a website called fan fiction . net. Ian was on the verge to start slapping the crocodile leather seats in hysterics. The stories from that website could be so funny, and he couldn't even imagine Dan Cahill and his sister being less than a yard from each other! He went to the main website and found some more entries. He began to read. The hilarious "Natan" stories were starting to grow on him, until he started reading one that included Amy and himself. Uncomfortable, Ian's face flushed and he started to blush... and Kabras never blushed. He rapidly pressed the home button.

He was able to finish browsing through Natalie's Facebook pages before there was a sharp rap at the door. He quickly put down the phone right where he had found it and pretended to inspect his nails, so that Natalie didn't suspect anything.

The butler (Ian didn't try to remember his name) dramatically opened the door for Natalie, which Ian realized must have taken a lot of effort, considering he was holding all her bags. There had to have been at least 50.

"Hello, sister," Ian said. "It seems that you can finally use your make-up skills on someone other than yourself. And either that boy Cahill orphan is madly in love with you, or he just wants to humiliate himself." He didn't look up, but he was getting bored with his nails, so he pulled out a mirror and started combing his hair instead.

Through the mirror, he spotted a very angry looking Natalie, with her hands on her hips, with the doorman/driver/bag holder/butler behind her, looking uncertain. The man hesitantly closed the door after she stepped in. Ian could hear the snapping of the trunk. Natalie plopped down in her seat, grabbed her phone, and immediately knew he had been sneaking through it. Ian smirked. She shot daggers at him using her venomous eyes. He smirked. She turned her cell phone on. He smirked again. She read the story and gasped in utmost horror. Guess what Ian did:

He smirked.

**Natalie**

"Why do people write such offensive stories about us and our lowly relatives on this website called 'FanFiction'?" Natalie whined. "Everybody knows that every one of them is not true. I am never ever going to be seen in public with that idiot Daniel. Or his atrocious sister. Or his disastrous punk nanny. And I will also never waste my expensive designer make-up on a bunch of peasant kids doing a cheap play for a... public school." She sputtered the words with disgust. Ian glanced at her and smirked.

She rolled her eyes and sat up straighter. The limo slid in through massive iron gates with the name "Kabra" wired in with shining 24-karat gold. Natalie looked out her tinted bullet-proof window and saw the usual: dozens of maids scurrying across the estate to clean the mansion that Ian and Natalie shared. Things had been very much more impressive when their parents were around. There used to be multiple houses and endless gardens that stretched across the entire land, covering about the size of a medium sized town, and a few good sized properties strewn across the world. They used to be so rich that even the maids slept in canopy beds and ate caviar. Now, all the two children had were just a measly 4 million dollars and what of wasn't sold of their property. Since Ian had taken over their parent's business of selling paintings, he was usually gone from the mansion, leaving Natalie with nothing to do but to go shopping, learn from private tutors, and boss people around. Which is what she always did best. But sometimes she got bored. If she wanted anything to be done, she had a group of workers to choose from. And when she did go shopping, she couldn't find anything that didn't remind her of Mum.


	2. Madrigals I

Disclaimer: We don't own 39 Clues. Written by sathena3 and Stormy-Starre.

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**CHAPTER TWO**  
**Madrigals**  
**Mrs. Edmunds**

"So, I and all of Dan's teachers have found a perfect solution. There is a children's Film Festival coming up in about a month. I really would like it if Dan joined in."

Mrs. Mary Edmunds was sitting in her office inside of Adams Middle School. Sitting in front of her was a worried looking teenager, Dan's sister; a young woman with a very modern style in clothing (complete with all the black makeup and pink highlights in the hair. Oh, the way people of this generation dressed uniquely almost knocked her out), who must have been the childrens' baby sitter; and a man looking slightly older than Mrs. Edmunds with a black trench coat wrapped around himself (their grandfather?). They were discussing the most difficult student in her school. Daniel Arthur Cahill. As she was talking to his family about Daniel's behavior, she told them that he needed something that might truly keep him from wearing ninja costumes to school (he was in 8th grade, for goodness sakes!), and asking for his dangerously genuine swords. He claimed that they were owned by his ancient ancestors from Japan. Then when the teachers demanded for a full and true explanation, Daniel claimed it was a sacred family secret that could endanger and murder everyone. The swords were confiscated immediately.

"Um, Mrs. Edmunds, I don't think that will do my brother any good," The copper haired teenager replied.

"And why is that?"

He will just make a video about ninjas or video games. It wouldn't be a big problem for him. At home he never stops talking about his stuff."

"Then what should we do?" The principal had really had enough of Daniel's special hobbies.

"Maybe give him an assigned subject to work on. He should do a documentary about a person, to see how they live and stuff. A different person than him maybe, so he won't be doing a movie on a guy like him. I think that would behoove him more than picking a subject himself, because he will just pick a ninja or something," the teenager said.

Before Mary could answer, the other young lady, Miss Gomez, chimed in. "Hmm, maybe… Natalie Kabra!"

Dan's sister, the teenager was trying hard to keep a straight face, and even the man in black suppressed a small smile. Mary could not find the humor in the name. Other names were exchanged, and smiles were shared, and finally Mary spoke out. "So who should the assigned person be?"

Nellie quickly whispered something to Mr. Fiske and Amy. "Um, Amy and Mr. Fiske, should we really choose someone from the - erm - Around the world vacation?"

"I think it would be best, since - the OTHER family (A/N-The Vespers are the OTHER family) are...um, joining us soon. Dan should get to know more about his relatives, so we could work together," Mr. Fiske Cahill quietly replied.

"How 'bout someone he doesn't really, um, get along with much?" said Nellie.

"Then Natalie, perhaps?" Fiske suggested.

"Perfect," Nellie added.

"I wonder how Dan is going to take this," Amy wondered aloud. She just hoped that Natalie Kabra was feeling cooperative enough to try to not kill anyone with her dart gun. Probably not.

**Dan**

Dan was shuffling his way through the Adams Middle School hallway. Life had taught him that he and the principal, Mrs. Mary Edmunds would forever be enemies. He could already see his friends groaning. "Detention again man?" Carson asked.

Dan didn't even bother knocking on the evil-looking door. It seemed to mock him every time he got sent to the Principal's Office. This meant that it mocked him every single day.

As he ambled his way into the still and familiar office, he noticed that there was a 7th grade girl in the chair that was usually occupied by Dan. She was talking (in between the loud snapping of her bubblegum) to Mrs. Edmunds about having teachers letting her and her friends text during class. Blah blah blah… they were the superiors of the school and there was no way anyone were more better than those nincompoops, so they should be allowed to be able to do anything that they want because they were sooo special **(A/N Please note the sarcasm) ** Dan found himself staring intensely at an ant on a miraculous journey down the doorknob.

"Get outta my way loser," the girl snapped as she sauntered towards him to try and get to the door.

So finally the girl was done yakking. He side stepped out of the way, but not after he was done sticking his tongue out. She rolled her eyes and strutted out the door. Dan took a seat.

"Daniel, Daniel, Daniel…" the principal said

And that was the official greeting of every conversation between them.

"According to the teacher's records, your recent ones especially, and your complaints at home, all the detentions had done nothing to help you become a better individual, and the detentions have been soaring rocket high this semester. I have then agreed with all the teachers and your guardians that we have to give you another kind of assignment, other than detention, that we can both agree upon. It is not bad, but we hope that you will actually learn from it, and then please be a better gentleman in your classes...okay?"

Dan used his mad ninja skills, and detected some begging in his strict principal's eyes. This was new.

When Dan didn't answer, the weary principal sighed while continuing: "Well, there is a film festival coming up soon. I encourage you to try. Here, I have a form for you to complete and bring home to let your legal guardians sign. Everything is explained in it. But I have already assigned you a subject to make a film about. Actually, your sister, Miss Nellie Gomez, and Mr. Fiske Cahill said something about a "family thing" and having to work together, and we came up with the perfect subject for you to work on."

Dan snorted. She had no idea. "Family thing." Seriously, like chasing and escaping the deadly organization of Vespers was something every common family does for recreation and fun. Dan popped all his knuckles and waited for the principal to finish.

She quirked her mouth. It was almost a grin. Well, an evil grin. Oh, man, he was really in for it. "Are you familiar to anybody named Natalie Kabra?"

Dan fainted.


	3. Madrigals II

Disclaimer: We don't own 39 Clues. Written by sathena3 and Stormy-Starre

**CHAPTER THREE**  
**Madrigals**  
**Amy**

"Ew, what is this?" Amy asked. Dan's sister, Amy was holding up a brown paper bag full of squishy mystery items. She tried to avoid coming into Dan's room as much as possible, but she was sure he stole her math notebook. She had been rummaging through piles of junk higher than herself for almost an hour, and she was starting to think that this trip to Dan's room was not worth it. Even for her notebook.

She noticed Dan grinning. "Remember the slug prank last week? After you told me to clean them out of your science thingamabob, I put them in there for safekeeping. I wanted to put salt on them, but I must have forgot about them. Hey, Amy, are you sure that they all died? I might want to use them on Nellie." Dan babbled while staring at his laptop. Amy dropped the bag in disgust.

*click* Dan opened up a link sent by Hamilton Holt. He could hear Amy mumbling something about revenge and walking to the door of his room. Dan yelped in clear disgust as he saw the link.

"Ew! Disgusto! What kind of imagination do these people have?! That's so not true!" Dan shouted. Dan started to make boisterous gagging noises while clutching his neck.

_Well, this had better be good. _Amy thought.

Amy trotted up next to her vein-bulging brother. After skimming through the paragraph, she exploded in laughter. It was one of those web sites with stories about Dan and Natalie Kabra, the person he hated the most. Or so he said. "Shippings," or pairings. Amy found it funny, but Dan also discovered something called "Amian", which he realized was great blackmailing material.

"YOU TELL ANYONE ABOUT THIS JUNK-" Dan started.

**Nellie**

Nellie was listening to her iPod while she read The Hunger Games in Grace's rebuilt mansion's kitchen. After the Cahill's Clue Hunt ended, she had lived the life of luxury with her favorite (and only) kids that she had ever babysat. Or, for Dan's sake, au-paired. Her beloved iPod suddenly cut silent. Nellie glanced at it and realized it had automatically shut down from low battery, and that she had been reading for 3 hours, and that she forgot to make Amy and Dan lunch. This was also known as ordering Pizza Hut for whoever was in the house at the moment. Dan somehow turned the replica of his Grandmother's house into the ultimate hang out place for all the 8th graders at Adams Middle School, meaning he would bring home whole classrooms over to play video games and make a mess on one of the floors. Amy had an occasional friend or project partner.

As soon as Nellie yanked out her ear pods shaped like M&Ms she heard inaudible shrieking and yelling, followed by uncontrollable laughter. Her clue-hunt instincts had her barging into Dan's pigsty of a room in seconds.

"Hey! What's going on in here?!" she shouted.

Nellie's eyes searched over the piles of month old dirty laundry, foreign candy wrappers, and collections of collections. She finally spotted a screaming Dan and a hunched over Amy.

Dan ran out of his room to find Saladin. Apparently, he needed a cuddle buddy.

As soon as he was out of the room, Nellie closed and locked the door. Then she basically pranced to Dan's computer, which was still on and opened to the page that had sent Dan squealing out the door. Nellie read it all and laughed hysterically.

Then she did something she usually wouldn't do. Nellie opened up a new message and started typing extremely obnoxious things into Dan's email. Amy nodded at her, her face serious, but Nellie could see hints of smiling on her mouth. They had had a talk with Dan's principal just a day ago, and it was for his own good. The computer's mouse selected "Natalie Kabra" (why was she in his contacts?) and then the "send" button.


	4. Ekaterina I, Tomas I, Janus I

We do not own the 39 Clues Series :)

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**Ekaterina**  
**Alistair**

Meanwhile, the semi-rich Alistair Oh, with the company of Reagan and Madison Holt, was trying to discover a new burrito flavor. "Hmmm... coconut meat tastes a little too bland for the Tropical Taste Burrito. It needs more... tang." He was on the Polynesian Easter Island, which was, by coincidence, a Madrigal base. It was early September, and he was having a relaxing taste test by the base, which was a fake moai statue. He had a soft red and white checkered picnic cloth underneath him, and a variety of fruit, meat, and veggies laid out around it. This included Polynesian Rat meat.

Over the past hour, Alistair had enjoyed fresh dates, sticky dried dates, coconut meat, peach, and acai fruit while Reagan and Madison looked on hungrily. He had no intention of trying the unappetizing rat, and he kept on telling himself that he would try it tomorrow, along with the untouched betel nuts, snake palm, butia fruit, and many more. Alistair wasn't feeling that adventurous today.

Apparently the Holt sisters were. "Better luck tomorrow, Uncle Taco!" Reagan and Madison Holt cheered in unison. They swooped in and snatched up the rest of the food. They began to stuff their cheeks with the tropical food. Even the strips of rat.

Alistair sighed. "It's _burrito!_"

**Tomas**  
**Hamilton**

Hamilton Holt was breathing hard. It was a first. He was a tough one. He never breathed hard. "Go, go, go!" His father Eisenhower boomed.

_I'm going,_ he thought to himself, rolling his eyes. He glanced at his dad, who wasn't even breaking a sweat. Sometimes he wished he was more like his dad, but with more brains. His dad wasn't always the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was the largest and the strongest. _Dear god-of-all-things-Holt-and-Tomas,_ he thought. _Please make me larger and stronger like Dad but with more brains, otherwise I will be like him and get next to nowhere in life._

He squeezed his eyes shut and reached upwards, using his large muscles (not as large as his dad's, though) to pull himself up. When he opened his eyes, he was staring at a sheer rock face.

He looked up. Did he dare? Oh, well, he had already looked. His head was parallel with an outcropping of rock. If he climbed it, he would be upside-down. He looked down right before he remembered his Mom's advice not to. No ropes, no belays. He was climbing Half-Dome. On the flat side. With no ropes.

He was going to die.

**Janus**  
**Jonah**

This was the first time that Jonah had been nervous backstage in the past 10 years. His usual cool was nearly gone, and he was pacing back and forth, weaving his way through the props and people, wringing his hands. In less than five minutes, Elsi McCarns, who was, in his opinion, the cutest girl in his high school, was going to be onstage with him. In a Shakespeare play! He strolled over to the 1st wing, and received a perfect view of Elsi. She was talking to the director, Mrs. Hasens, about the last scene. Elsi nodded, smiled, and strode backstage for a drink of water.

He looked at Elsi. _She is cute,_ he thought. _Wait. No. Concentrate on the show, Jonah. Breathe. _He kept on pacing. He thought about his dad. Dad was already in the audience, with the front row seats. He wasn't big on the whole Shakespeare thing, but he supported Jonah's dreams no matter what. He probably had a bouquet of flowers underneath his chair for after the show. His ever-present iPhone would be in his hands. It took Dad a while to let go of his precious BlackBerry, but he finally agreed that he liked the iPhone better. Jonah thought about the audience.

"Romeo, quit staring at Juliette, we don't need any backstage romance," Mrs. Hasens joked.

"What? No, I was checking out my... my homie um..." He grabbed the nearest nerd.

"Nelson," the nerd answered happily. Nelson was on running crew. Jonah mentally chastised himself for not knowing his name. Being on running crew, Nelson had been there for a couple of months at every single rehearsal. Poor guy. Ever since he converted from being an international pop star to a small town Shakespearean actor, Jonah had been making a point to care more about the people around him. Jonah grabbed the Nelson and shook him, grinning convincingly, flashing all this pearly whites at the teacher.

"If you say so..." Mrs. Hasens sighed. "And Jonah, you're up next, so - " Distracted, she wandered off to lecture the sound crew, who were a bunch of jocks who didn't want any "cheesy" part of the play. They were messing with random knobs and buttons on the equipment.

He let go of the confused but excited nerd (Nelson) in disgust, then dusted off his shoulder. "Sorry, dude, that was just cover-up. Why don't you go play with a computer, or Pokémon, whatever nerds these days do..." he trailed off, distracted once more by Elsi walking his way. Oh no. Walking his way!

She finally looked at him. Double oh no. What to do? What to say? What to THINK!? Girls were so impossible to figure out. They would tell you they were okay, then go home and cry. They would love you one day, hate you the next. They would break your heart over and over again.

He couldn't run away. That would look stupid and uncool. He couldn't just stand there, either. That would look stupid as well. And if he walked towards her... he didn't want to think about that one. Girls! He had to be doing something. He grabbed Nelson the Nerd again as a cover. He brought Nelson close and hissed, "Make small talk!"

Nelson looked around wildly, confused. Then he adjusted his large, square glasses and cleared his throat. No doubt he was thinking, _I'm talking to Jonah Wizard! _"Um..." he began. "So, Jonah... um... what did you eat for lunch today?"

Jonah smacked his head with his hand.

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**Hello my readers who have reached the very bottom! Don't worry, this will be short: We know we have readers out there, but only have 1 or 2 reviews! Writers like to have feedback, and that is their motivation to get going. All writers, professional and fanfic, get that heart-panicky feeling whenever they don't receive ANY feedback. It makes us sad. It makes us want to pretend that story never existed. If you are a writer, you might know that feeling. Just please take the time to write a comment, and/or constructive criticism is wanted as well. Thank you so much for reading and understanding, and we hope you like the story so far!**


	5. Lucian II, Madrigals III, Lucians III

SORRY FOR THE LOONG WAIT!

We don't own the 39Clues Series... :(

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**Chapter Five**

**Random Salesman POV**

"Have it, hate it, have it..." The bratty rich girl strode down the rows of high heels at the boutique. "Show me something that I like," she instructed in a very bossy tone to the poor salesman, whom she was dragging along. The well-dressed 13 year old looked at the latest "in" shoes. The salesman held up another shoe. This one was a pair of leopard-print Jimmy Choo wedges.

Natalie sighed. "How many times do I have to remind you to hold it tilted at a 90 degree angle?!" The man wiped the sweat off his brow, then adjusted the way the shoe was tilted. He mentally scratched his head, having no idea what the difference was.

"Hate it!" Natalie yelled, causing people nearby to stare. The salesman was turning red with embarrassment. He never really was a guy who liked attention. This girl, however, kept stamping her foot in frustration. "Do you people have any idea how important it is for a girl to have the perfect wardrobe?" she huffed.

"Sorry, ma'am." He quickly boxed the rejected footwear and set them aside, along with the sad but mountainous pile of shoeboxes.

"I am just about done with you dimwits," the girl snapped. "Escort me out."

**Madrigals**

**Dan's POV**

Amy yelled his name from down the stairs. "DAAAAAAAAAN!"

"WHAAAAAAAT!" he yelled back.

"NAAAAATAAAAALIIIEEEE... SHOULD BE ARRIVING... IN 10 MINUTES! CLEAN YOUR ROOOOOOOM!" she shouted, slowly so that she could be sure he would hear right. Her brother could be deaf sometimes.

"NO!" he yelled back. He smiled.

"DAN!" Nellie screamed. "Don't make me come up there..." she warned. "I've got an iPod in hand and I'm not afraid to use it..."

Dan grinned. "What are you going to do with an iPod?" he yelled. "Text me to death?"

"DANIEL... CAHILL!" Nellie screamed. "_CLEAN YOUR ROOM... NOW!_"

Dan heard stomping up the stairs. Oh no. Nellie could do a lot of damage, even with only an iPod. He scrambled into his room and closed the door, leaning against it, breathing hard. Nellie pounded on the door. "I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"

"Um..." he thought quickly. He started talking in a monotone voice. "I'm sorry, but Ninja Master Dan Cahill is not available right now. Please leave a message after the tone. If you would like to dial a different number, press one. If you would like to leave this room, press two. If you would like to save this number in your brain, press three. If you would like to block this number, press four. Um..." he stalled. "If you would like to... um... to-"

"I WOULD LIKE TO DIAL SIX!" Nellie snapped. "LET ME IN!"

"Well, I don't want to kill you with the sight or the smell... I mean my room looks like a hurricane struck it... or maybe like the Shaolin monks struck it... Hmm, that's a good one..." he cautiously but grandly opened the door. "Suit yourself. Enter Dan's room at your own risk."

Nellie took one look and whiff of the room, and screamed. Then she tore off down the hall, screaming the whole time.

**Lucian**

**Ian's POV**

Ian glanced at his designer Rolex Daytona watch. "Natalie, you're supposed to be at the Cahill's in ten minutes."

"What?" she poked her head around the corner, her hair whipping behind her. "Aw, Ian, you made my hair mess up!" She took out a compact mirror and little gold hair brush and began fixing the tiniest of stray hairs.

"You have to be at the Cahill's house in ten minutes," Ian repeated.

"But - wait, they're not coming here? I thought I was doing their makeup? As a favor, right? So they should come here?"

"Get in the car."

She panicked and scrunched up her face. "But - But I'm not ready! I need someone to do my hair, and, OH MY GOSH! LOOK AT MY NAILS! And I haven't even done an ounce of makeup yet... and I didn't end up buying those shoes so I have nothing to go with this outfit... Why didn't I buy those shoes!?" She started pacing around. "You're making me WORRY! I shouldn't be scrunching my eyebrows! It causes wrinkles! IANNNNNN! Eek!"

Ian looked at her. Her hair looked perfect, long and luscious, as always. Her nails were perfectly manicured, with leopard prints to go with her tank top. She had layers of makeup caked onto her face and her eyes were rimmed with the finest and most expensive eyeliner and mascara. Her lips were pink today, to go with her pants. Her outfit was, as always, expertly designed. She was wearing a sparkly leopard print tank top with a black bolero on top, with pink designer Gucci jeans. Her pedicure was fine, although she had no shoes on.

"Wear the black ones," he suggested.

"But," she whined. "The leopard print ones would have gone so much better with this outfit!"

Ian sighed and tried to not explode. "Natalie, we have to go and you don't have those shoes! Let it go!"

"But - but -"

"I suggest you get in the car," he said dryly.

"But I have so much... stuff to do!"

"No, you don't. You look absolutely amazing. Can we go now?"

"Awww," she complained. She put on her black shoes, grabbed her leopard print purse, and sat down in the car, making sure not to rumple the hem of her shirt. "Um... Ian?"

"Yes?" he asked. He finished lacing up his shoes and took long strides towards the car.

"Where's the driver? Charlie or Charles or... ummm..."

Ian took a deep breath and collected himself. _Stay calm_. "I'm driving today."

"You're WHAT!? Oh, brilliant, Ian, brilliant. What an awful joke. My bloody outfit isn't complete, and now this."

"You heard me. I'm driving." He was perfectly serious, of course.

"But... Ian, you're only 17... you're going to crash and kill both of us! Just please get Charles! Or Charlie! Oh, you get the point!"

"I'm driving, Natalie. I need some practice. It is monotonous to practice alone every single day. Let's go. We'll be perfectly fine."

"But -" she protested. Ian blocked out her complaints and focused on driving. _Turn right. Wait, signal first! Look in the mirror. Check the mirror again. But still look at the road. Remember to press the acceleration pedal! Look at the road, not your shoes! _Ian shook his head. Driving was insane. Red light. _Check the mirror. You're in the wrong lane! You're supposed to turn right! _"Blast it!" He grumbled. Ian kept driving when the light turned green and U-turned at the first place he could. _Get in the left lane. Check your mirror for people behind you. Now look forward. Now look at the mirror. SIGNAL! _Ian took deep gulps of air. He was about to start hyperventilating. Ian Kabra did not hyperventilate.

Someone next to Ian drove by with the windows open and loud rock music blaring. In his moment of distraction, he spun the wheel into the other lane. _CRASH._

"IAN!" Natalie shrieked.

Ian put his head in his hands. Sirens blared.


End file.
